CarnySaur:Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"? I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

The last two days of my 15 year old Siberian Husky's life, I wanted this. Started crying when I made the call to the vet & pretty much kept going all day. Worst part for me was people trying to offer comfort instead of just f&cking off & letting me cry. Last w/e someone in a local store asked because they hadn't seen me out with her - I'd never noticed the clouds of dust in that store. Taking that decision is the right thing to do for the animal; it is also a gut-wrenchingly horrible experience.

CitizenjaQ:CarnySaur: Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"? I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

Yup. A little black kitten appeared outside my apartment one day and snarfed down the food we gave him. Never found an owner, so he became mine. He'd almost started to get along with the other cat when his heart gave out in the middle of the night, about six months later. I picked him up from the foot of the bed to try and get him to snuggle with me and he was stiff as a board. It was pretty horrible.

Right there with ya. We took in (another) stray and worked on nursing her through a cold, but she didn't make it through the week. Then you think you failed her because you didn't keep a close enough watch.

noitsnot:ronaprhys: A quick scan of the article didn't really bring up anything douchey. Seemed like someone who faced with the decision of what's the best thing to do, given all of the circumstances and the emotional issues that come with making that choice.Am I missing something? Or was this just subby trying to get another greenlight?

Seemed medium douchey - like "gosh I was surprised to realize that I experienced normal human feelings".

It's annoying that these "journey of self-discovery" style articles actually get published. I sure hope nobody got paid more than 79 cents for that. There's just no journalism left anywhere - all writing is now directed towards entertainment, just the first step to maybe making it up to writing for the next Jim Belushi sit-com someday.

That was the angle I got from it.

Heck he might be a perfectly reasonable guy in the meantime, but it sounded like until he had to pull the trigger on putting the pet down, he didn't really give a care about it.

JackieRabbit:I've had cats euthanized and I have allowed them to die naturally at home. This call has to be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on what is wrong with the animal. In some cases, euthanasia is the only course of action, but in most, allowing the animal to die at home is the way to go, especially in multi-cat situations. It is better for the cats left behind to assist the dying cat with their passing (and boy do they ever; it's amazing to watch) and they absolutely do get a sense of closure from being with the dying cat and witnessing its dead body.

Yes! Watched my little Calico shiat mature in front of our eyes. Came up, sniffed her best buddy, and went on patrol until he was gone.

Done this with Dogs too....heartbreaking, but they understand in a much different way than we do. our girls watched the doors when our Sheppie boy took his last breath.

We had to have our cat, Tilly, put to sleep this past Mother's Day. She had been part of our family for 10 years and had developed what we thought was another bladder infection. Took her to the vet because she was peeing on the tile floors, a not normal behavior for her, and wasn't eating much. Initial tests were performed, she was put on morphine, antibiotics and Sub-Q saline infusions, but nothing seemed to work and her weight had dropped from 8 lbs to nearly 4. Took her back to the vet for further tests which found a large mass in her abdominal area...cancer. She was in such a weakened state that she would not have survived treatment, so we did the right thing and let her go.

That is the hardest decision we've ever had to make, but we loved her too much to see her suffer needlessly.

Wow, it's dusty in here all of a sudden. I've had several cats in my life, and only two so far died a natural death, the others I had to choose to euthanize. It never gets easier, but there comes a time in their life when you just know it's time to end their suffering. Like my one cat who was 20 and I was feeding her with a syringe and she couldn't move, and I just thought "what am I doing, am I doing this for her or me?", which is when I called the vet and took her in. The whole family was bawling all the way to the vets and home again. Then my other cat died four years ago, at 18 after a diabetic seizure. My son who was 14 at the time was so upset he cried for a week. My current cat is 14 and seems healthy enough, but she could go at any time. I always say when one cat dies that I'm never getting another one, but sure enough, a few months later I start getting broody and want a new kitten.

Today my husband and I dropped our dog Yuri off at the vet. She's not been eating much for the past two weeks and has been throwing up most of what she has eaten. In two weeks she's lost a quarter of her body weight. (She was only 20lbs to begin with.) Vet said sometimes they just get stuck in these patterns of throwing up, so now she's in observation and has an IV going to rehydrate her and get her some sort of necessary nutrients going. x-rays showed nothing. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the blood work to come back.

Yuri wasn't ever really my dog. My husband adopted her when he was stationed in Okinawa. She was 10 years old when I first met her, old enough that her black muzzle had turned white. In the past three years I've gotten amazingly attached to her.

I really, really hope she's going to be okay. I don't think I'm quite ready for the alternative yet. =(

funktilious_j:They gave him the sedative and he fell asleep. Then they gave him the second shot. He breathed his last breath in my lap. And I sat there for 20 minutes, crying like a baby, petting him, telling him how much we loved him. I found out later that the vet techs wouldn't come in and bother me after the first girl came in, saw me crying, and came out of the room crying herself.

Yeah, I got treated to about 20 seconds of my dog freaking out and trying to sit up before he went under. It was fine at first, and then the drug hit and freaked him out, so Ihhad to be there calming him down, telling him it was going to be all right. I felt like a lying heel...

SploogeTime:"I don't quite get the headline? What makes him a douche? Or what makes him a douche on all other days?Most people selfishly keep their pets alive longer than they should; after the animal is clearly not having any kind of quality of life. This author waited until the cat indicated that it was time by stopping eating and then didn't delay in having her euthanized. He indicated that before that, she had still been a loving and engaged animal, even if she had elimination issues, and didn't appear to be in pain."

Agree, completely, and guilty of that, but no more. To me, pups & cats are family members, but they can be euthanized in a humane way and to wait too long because of the attachment is wrong when the animal suffers. Obviously, not everyone agrees.

I got the impression that the guy was a douche in the first paragraph (bolded), where he confesses that when other people have talked about how hard it was to put their pets down, and his response was "how hard can it be?" Which is a pretty douchey thing to say/think about someone who was was going through that decision. Understandably he's changed his stance, but that doesn't mean he wasn't a douche to begin with.

I've always held the firm belief that when you know the quality of your pets life is going bad, it's time to help them go. In nature an animal will wonder off and nature takes the lead.

When my Blue Heeler, at the age of 14, lost his bowels and bladder in the house for the first time since he was a puppy. He then had a couple seizures in the afternoon. There were some other issues that come with the dog's aging, but this day, I knew it was time to help him along.Luckily, my former boss had access to Euthanasia, and with the help of a Vet Tech friend, I was able to put my best friend down in the comfort of our own home.I've seen so many friends keep their pets around far too long.Right now a friend's Wiener Dog is on the verge of death. The wind knocked it over the other day when it tried to pee. My friend just wants "one more day" with the dog.

Said goodbye to our Chow-Chow on 12/29/2012. It was time and we were not going to let her suffer. We were told she had a stroke, which was why she had been unable to get along properly for a few weeks. The night it happened we took her to an all-night vet who misinformed us as to what happened.

Mrs.Kritter and I were in a black abyss of sorrow and tears for many weeks. Some people have children, we had our Chili.

RIP my friend. I miss you so much. Thank you for making life worth living all those years.

i had to take the kitty to the vet for the thing. afterwards i cried like niagra falls, i mean i was just blubbering, but on the last day the cat was looking right at me and screaming and telling me to do it already. props to that vet, he led me out the back where no-one would see and didn't bill me for 2 weeks.

6502programmer:It is hard to send a pet to heaven, but this helps get them there a little faster..

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okay, I laughed.

I've had to put down cats, dogs, and horses. Not a single one is a fun event. The horses are probably the worst as only one was old age: Two were unrecoverable colic and poor old girl wouldn't have made it through the summer without heat stroke.

My old Malamute that taught me how to walk died at home. The Husky 12 years later had cancer and was hurting bad.Most of the cats were at home, one was torn up by a dog and had a broken back. He wasn't even a year old.

We have two cats and two dogs now. Both the dogs are under two and my wife (who has never really had pets) already starts crying at the thought of what will happen to them 10-15 years from now. She's going to be an absolute wreck.

CarnySaur:Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"? I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

My cat Paddiwak died in his sleep at around 17/18. That was when my mother learned you may never be sure of your decision. She asked me if she should have done something different; if he'd been suffering all that time. But he wasn't sick and he didn't show any real signs of being in pain. He just was bonier than usual. I also reminded her that he was always our subborn bastard cat and totally deserved to go on his own terms.

But I think she was thinking about when we'd had to put Beanie down some 8 years before. She had been in pain; she'd been having seizures, her hips were clearly paining her and she was having urinary problems. Mom doubted her decision; wondering if she chose euthanasia too soon. I think Beanie needed to know *we* were ready, so putting her down really was the only option. But putting Beanie to sleep was a big damn deal, because not only was she our beloved elderly cat, but she'd been one of our vet's first regular patients out of school, so the doc was tearing up the whole time too.

Some of our pets it wasn't a decision at all. Missy was unconsious getting her teeth investigated because we thought she had an absess, when the vet uncovered a huge cancerous mass on her lower jaw. Mom didn't want to even wake her up to say goodbye because she hated the idea of our stupid puppy living through even a few moments of more pain for her own selfishness. Little Panther had a severe gastro-intestinal cancer and there was no question of putting him down either when it became clear he was dying.

My old cat died when I was gone on vacation. Poor caretakers found her curled up by my bed, dead. Sucked. I will be carrying guilt over this for the rest of my life and I have bad dreams about neglecting her, years after she passed.

Over the course of my life I have mad pets in my life. Cats. dogs, fish, a turtle, etc...The three hardest, by far, was my first dog ever, and two very special cats.

My pup was the runt of the litter, shaking, scared, wincing at everything. I had to take her and give her a home.And I did. And she grew into one of the sweetest Jack Russell terriers. And, strangely, one of the biggest anyone had ever seen.They called her a 'badger class'.Through 17 years we did things and had fun. So much so, I took her presence in my life for granted sometimes.In her last year her legs were so bad she could no longer walk, and refused her food at times.When she walked straight into the sofa I took her to the vet.A day and many tests later I went back to see her and consult with my vet of decades.I looked at Doc B and said "you know me, I don't give a shiat what the cost, but be straight with me".He got a little choked up and said"i wish I could tell anything but this. Her kidneys are shot, her liver function is so far off, and her blood panel is bad. You need to let her go J, shes 17, there's a limit to what can be done, and she might not live through some of those things anyway"I took pics of my little pup as she drifted off to sleep for the last time in my arms, being careful she didn't see me crying because she always got upset when she saw me sick or upset. Once Doc B told me "that's it" I fekking lost it. Even Doc B cried. He has known me for so long and knew what she meant to me.Sunday Oct 3, 2010 @ 10:50AM I sad goodbye to my first pup ever. I miss that dog every day. She was a big soul stuffed into a small frame.

/i cant continue right now....I just cant, maybe write about the kitties in later post, apologies//a 51 year old man crying in his office with the door closed, quite the spectacle

I have a tendency to adopt older, less healthy shelter dogs (somebody has to) so I've had to do this quite a few times. I've lost 3 in about the last 4 years actually. Well I know where they are, they just don't wag anymore.

Last fall my father was in hospice and every other weekend I would drive the 500 +/- miles round trip to see him. Just happened to be in town the weekend my domestic partner called crying and telling me I needed to come say goodbye to the dog. Drove to her house, put him in the car and drove him to the vet for last rites. Lost my dad and my dog in about 6 weeks. The dog from a degenerative muscle disease and dad from pancreatic cancer.

I've had pets throughout my 27 years, but so far I haven't had to put any down. A couple cats ran away, rabbits died in their sleep, ditto guinea pigs. Rats got cancer and died from that before I could put them down. I have one cat that I've had since 1995 and she's hanging in there pretty good. A little stiff, but still full of piss and vinegar. *insert penis joke here*

Presently I've got three dogs and they are all under 5 years. I'm not looking forward to the day that will come within ten years when I have to put one of them down. I wish dogs could live, like, thirty years. It would be even harder to lose them, but I think it would be worth it in the end. Maybe someday science will give us dogs that live longer, but right now 10-15 years (being optimistic, too) just isn't long enough.

I don't know how people can get a giant dog breeds, like a great dane or mastiff. Those poor sons 'a biatches only live like 7 years.

ronaprhys:A quick scan of the article didn't really bring up anything douchey. Seemed like someone who faced with the decision of what's the best thing to do, given all of the circumstances and the emotional issues that come with making that choice.

Am I missing something? Or was this just subby trying to get another greenlight?

Seemed pretty not-douchy to me too, except this part: "Over time, she became such a part of our family life that she was just Rosie Silver, our cat, with her own style and her own Facebook page." Kitty with its own Facebook page = at least some amount of douchiness.

Being a dog person and coming from a family of dog people we never really had the slow agonizing death by suicide that cat people seem to use a cue to make that dreaded appointment. Our pets just were kept as comfortable as possible and we would let them sneak in an extra treat, if they could stomach it, knowing that they didn't have that long. My childhood buddy, Shawna, was totally blind and deaf by the time I was 7 but she still had a keen nose for trouble. When she was 17 she was incontinent in her sleep because she didn't have that control over her body anymore. My mom recalls sitting at the table and watching her in the dog bed fighting to stay awake and as she'd nod off force herself awake and to sit back up because she knew that she'd wake up in a soiled blanket. Mom, who didn't like this dog when she met my dad, didn't mind it. She'd carefully lay her out on a clean blanket and throw the wet one in the laundry with hardly any fuss. We let her outside one day and she went straight to a dogwood tree and looked like she laid down in the shade for a nap. But she didn't get up for dinner and that's when we knew she was gone. It was one of only 2 times I had ever seen my father cry. The other time was when we rented My Dog Skip because dammit if that dog didn't remind him exactly of Shawna.

mytdawg:I have a tendency to adopt older, less healthy shelter dogs (somebody has to) so I've had to do this quite a few times. I've lost 3 in about the last 4 years actually. Well I know where they are, they just don't wag anymore.

Last fall my father was in hospice and every other weekend I would drive the 500 +/- miles round trip to see him. Just happened to be in town the weekend my domestic partner called crying and telling me I needed to come say goodbye to the dog. Drove to her house, put him in the car and drove him to the vet for last rites. Lost my dad and my dog in about 6 weeks. The dog from a degenerative muscle disease and dad from pancreatic cancer.

I'll do it again too. The oldest dog of them all... RIP dad.

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You're a good person for what you do. And you have my utmost sincere sympathies on your losses.

As someone who just euthanized a cat, I'm getting a big kick.........(but seriously, just did).

Anybody who has anxiety about this process, talk to your vet. Let them explain the process to you, and ask questions. Don't assume it's too morbid or that your vet will think you are heartless. The LAST thing I want a client with a dying pet worrying about is that euthanasia hurts Fido so let's not do it. And, while it may not occur to you immediately, remember that doing this takes an emotional toll on us as well. A card or some other sort of thank you a week or two later goes a long way towards helping with that.

JackieRabbit:I've had cats euthanized and I have allowed them to die naturally at home. This call has to be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on what is wrong with the animal. In some cases, euthanasia is the only course of action, but in most, allowing the animal to die at home is the way to go, especially in multi-cat situations. It is better for the cats left behind to assist the dying cat with their passing (and boy do they ever; it's amazing to watch) and they absolutely do get a sense of closure from being with the dying cat and witnessing its dead body. This doesn't happen when the cat is removed and taken to the vet to be euthanized. I can tell you the longer goodbye of allowing the cat to die at home is far less traumatic to me than the sudden loss by euthanasia. Yes, they usually do quit eating a few days before dying and quit drinking in the last day or so. But this isn't the cat committing suicide as the vet in the FA suggests. Rather, the cat knows that its systems are shutting down and food and water are no longer necessary. Cats will usually choose a quite place to die and may even begin sleeping there preferentially for several weeks before the event. When the time comes, they will go to this place, lay down and slowly drift away. Another thing a cat will do is say goodbye to its human companions by spending extra time with them and being extra, but calmly, affectionate. It's actually beautiful to watch. For these reason, I choose euthanasia only when absolutely necessary.

Gonna respectfully disagree with you. Once your cat or dog stops eating and drinking it's time to call the vet. Dying of thirst and starving to death is a horrible way to go. Preserving your animal's dignity and making the tough drive to the vet is the best thing to do in my opinion.

We found a little guy mewling out back of my in-laws last year. It was May 1st and he was LOUD so we called him Mayday. He made it 3 days and then my FIL found him just...gone. I'm glad he had people to love on him for his short little life instead of dying (or getting eaten) out in that cold ditch.

God. Dunno why I'm reading this at work, but I made it through with a minimum of tearing up, and nothing escaped thankfully.

With everyone talking about making the decision to put their pets to sleep, and the effect it had on the children (be it themselves or their own), I would like to make a small, quiet request to the Fark Parents out there with pets who may be passing on in the future:

Do not, no matter how much of a 'growing' experience you think it will be, ask your children to make the final call.

Thank you, and love and hugs to those who have sent friends over the rainbow bridge.

I am home, alone, putting up ornaments in a vain attempt to feel like there is something special about December besides less bums on the street and less BO on the metro.

My first tree. Smells great. Looks pretty good. I tied it to the car myself.

But, it seems to be vibrating. Just slightly.

I reach the center of the tree and feel fur. Now I am not a complete wimp but this is unexpected and scares the shiat out of me. So I scream.

And my new cat says "meow".

I named him Scrooge. I think it's a him. I bought him food and a scratching post and litter and the box that comes with it and small fake mice he ignores and I am thinking maybe it will be nice to have a pet that lives longer than my plants.

But he is farking insane.

He attacks me at every opportunity. People think I am suicidal due to the scratches on my forearms. I own no socks without holes. I can't sleep at night because I know that little farker is waiting. He sits in the dark, quite and docile. Just when my breathing gets shallow and even and I begin to drift off to peaceful slumber, he attacks.

My feet seem to be his nemesis. And he is relentless.

He likes to wait under the couch when I get home. He waits until I have taken off my shoes and streach my weary toes before jumping out and diggin claws sharper than Gods wit into my flesh.

Then he runs.

And he is fast.

If I am not paying enough attention he will jump to my waist and scale my body like I was Everest until he reaches my shoulder at which point he screams: "Meaow!"

I love him. And I think I am going to kill him.

He has unseen enemies that plauge his existance.

I know because he will run around my apartment in a frenzy careening off of every possible surface. His little eyes wide. His little sphere-shaped head aware of movements in the furnature I cannot perceive. I imagine it is how I would act were you to shove a red-hot coal in my ass and blame it on everything in sight.

When he is actually still long enough for me to pet him, it is only a matter of minutes before his little ears go flat and he grabs my arm. He bites and uses his rear legs to scratch my skin as if it were a lotto ticket.

He is terrified of my basketball. I have no idea what great injustice a simarly looking basketball has done him in his past, but Christ, he hates that thing.

And plugs. He is not afraid of the vaccume (I have no idea how you spell that) but he hates the plug that goes to the wall. I can not afford the electrical tape to satisfy his prejudice.

Sometimes he just stares at me. And I wonder how he is planning my demise.

If I lay on the floor and look at him, he will run full speed and colide with my head. Then he will look at me like I am an asshole and run away. Back to the safety of under my bed where he will wait until I am naked and unprotected to seek his revenge.

If I try to read the paper when I am home he will attack the page. I have no idea what is going on in the world.

I take a shiat and he sticks his little arms under the door. He knows I shiat when I get home. Its usually quiet in there and this gives me a small heart attack every time. He will run into the bathroom as soon as he hears my key in the door. I have to tease him with a treat and run to close the door before he can get in there with me. This is what I am reduced to.

He is in love with my left work shoe and will defend it with passion every morning. Only the left one. I have no idea why. No other shoe precipitates such adoration from him.

I do not understand this creature.

But I like it when he purrs. I don't know where that sound comes from, but it's great.

He is now in a vicious, losing battle with the string that pulls my window blinds. And there go my blinds. Now, I am sure, he has retreated to under my bed. Only to wait to inflict further dmage to my ravished ankles.

My cat is Paranoid Scitzophrenic. He is Bipolar. Manic Depressive.

Maybe he is a she. Somehow that would make so much more sense.

I love that little farker, but I think I am going to have to kill him.

gja:You're a good person for what you do. And you have my utmost sincere sympathies on your losses.

Awww, thank you. I had 2 dogs that lived the better part of my life. One lived to be 14 and the other 15 with a couple years of crossover. Basically I got 25 plus years out of 2 lab mix dogs. Hell, I never got more than 9 out of a marriage. It kind of became a calling of sorts after that. It can be tough nursing one back to health after it's been through hell just to lose it again to something different but they die loved and that's all I can offer.

so...what, exactly, is douchey here? The guy's saying he had a hard time putting down a pet with severe health issues who was likely to have little or no decent quality life left. I've been there, it sucks. Submitter can kiss my ass.

I miss little Midge every single day. Been almost two years. We knew the time was coming, but fortunately she told us when. That little fireball was ripped from us far too soon.

My wife works in a vet hospital, and sometimes they have her come in and hold animals for this or that. Sometimes it's an euthanasia. Most of them, she knows that it's their time. Many times the owner will not be in the room or will even have left the vet clinic. She doesn't let them go alone and will hold and pet them as they go. I don't know how the hell she does it, but that office gets dusty.

And, since it's hard to know when it's time, I suggest you ask your vet about a quality of life scale. This can be extremely helpful.

CarnySaur:Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"? I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

I've had four cats die after old age, three we had the vet put to sleep after their health declined to the point it was obvious they no longer were able to get around.

The fourth died on the couch. Star was a small, energetic black and white cat that totally dominated her older and much larger orange partner, Alex. When she got older, she got quieter and was content to sit on our laps and occasionally play with some string, or a paper ball.

Then one day we noticed she wasn't eating very much. A trip to the vet and he told us she was just getting old, her systems were starting to shut down but she wasn't in any pain. He recommended changing her diet and keep an eye on her. We got her favorite foods, which she'd eat a little of, but even that didn't seem to help. Eventually she started having trouble getting to the litter box, so we set up another one downstairs. We'd take her outside when it was nice so she could sit in the sun and look around.

Then one day she wouldn't get up from the couch. Picking her up just made her all wobbly and she'd sit down right where we put her. We put her back on the couch and sat there petting her, and she'd purr.

My wife stayed up all night with her, and finally came upstairs around 4 am to tell me she had passed away in her sleep. I buried her that morning in her favorite spot in the yard.

We joke about death--human and animal--because it sucks too much not to.

Our last cat died after a year and a half. We found out after we got her home that she was FELV+, but she had a hell of a life in 18 months. Eventually, the tumor in the thoracic cavity became too much and she gave up. She was hiding most of the day, then at 9p came out, flopped in the middle of the floor, and didn't want to move. We went to take her to the vet for euthanasia, but didn't even make it 1/3 of the way before she died. We turned around, and I spend the next hour digging a hole in the backyard. If anything good came of it, I did get to hold her as she died.

Egalitarian:My old cat died when I was gone on vacation. Poor caretakers found her curled up by my bed, dead. Sucked. I will be carrying guilt over this for the rest of my life and I have bad dreams about neglecting her, years after she passed.

That being said, here's a funny bit about vets from Alonzo Bodden. NSFW language.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7GdSAjQqNw

Our 2.5 year old cat died while we were on vacation (long weekend). Our sitters found him on the floor in front of the door, as if waiting for us to get there. They waited 24 hours till we got home to tell us (i can only imagine)...they were there when we pulled in.

It just so happened to be the day that hurricane sandy was rolling in...we had to be home by 3pm in order to avoid torrential rain. we just made it, only to find the sitters on the porch and the cat in the garage. dug a grave in the yard in a downpour.

man was that rough. best the vet could say was a bad heart (although he was absolutely fine before we left, and on Fri and Sat when the sitters checked). Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the vet said, where one of the first signs sometimes is...death.